(A/N): Hello, readers. Ser-A-Man here! :) This here's my first BtT fanfic. "Untold Stories" is a compilation (not exactly in chronological order) of made-up events that occur before Leslie died. :( After watching the 2007 film a few weeks ago, I have been inspired to write my very first story about it. Well, enjoy folks!

DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO KATHERINE PATERSON. THE 2007 FILM BELONGS TO WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND WALDEN MEDIA. MUSIC AND LYRICS OF "My Favorite Things" BY RICHARD ROGERS AND OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II RESPECTIVELY.

Untold Stories Ch. 1: Favorite Things

"Leslie! Leslie!" Jess kept calling her in the forest for the first fifteen minutes.

Where the heck did she go, he wondered. She usually shows up early on the weekends, especially Saturdays. Strange indeed for him. He was about to give up on searching for her.

Another fifteen minutes have passed. Jess finally decided to go back home. Maybe she's busy somewhere else right now, he thought with a slight chuckle.

"That's just impossible," he laughed at his assumption as he swung back to the other side of the roaring river filled by rain water and covered with dead leaves. The rope seemed shorter and shorter each time he spends most his days going to Terabithia with her.

He quickly ran back to his house. His usual Saturday mood became blue by his father's stern, furious look on him.

"I'm telling you the truth, Dad! You just don't-" Jess simply stopped, his face staring at his father's death glare. He then sighed, "…all right. I'll clean the mess up." He went straight to work without breakfast, save by the blood-red apple he got as a "Monthi-versary" gift from Leslie yesterday.

This isn't exactly the way I planned on spending my Saturday. He placed his sweaty hands on his knees, exhausted.

"Jess!" The one cry he loathed the most enters his ears.

"Coming!"

Jess fell flat, face first in the dirt, outside the house. He unconsciously maintained this place for five minutes.

"JESS! JESS!" Another annoying sound came to him. It was May Belle's.

"What now?"

She gave her brother a sad, puppy face. "I'm sorry I got you into trouble. I only wanted you to spend some time with me. I know you have a girlfriend and-"

Jess stood up, "I told you a hundred times that she is not my girlfriend!"

"I don't believe you!" May Belle giggled.

"It's true!"

"No, it's not!"

"It is! Listen. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but, last night, I let Leslie sneak into our room to give you three dolls for your tea party or something. She-"

Hearing the words "new dolls" made his sister dash into their room without saying anything else. Jess almost couldn't resist laughing very hard. I can't believe she fell for it! He turned around and left the house with his hands tightly covering his mouth.

Maybe she's still in her house.

Jess rang the Burke's doorbell, his legs still wobbling because of fatigue. There was no answer. After a while, he decided to ring the doorbell again, but was interrupted by Leslie's opening of the door.

"Hi Jess!" Finally, music to his ears. "Why are you so gloomy?" She noticed her friend's condition, "…and shaky?"

Leslie's the only one person he could trust with what really happens in his life. "I'm exhausted, Leslie! Me doing chores again, 'cause of May Belle, my dad yelling at me, you not at- I thought you're always ahead of me when we go to Terabithia on Saturdays!"

"Always, but not all the time, you idiot," Leslie laughed, "I'm not a robot, you know." Then she mockingly made robot sounds and robot body gestures.

It killed Jess. Still, she thought it wasn't enough to wipe the convex shape off his lips. So she invited him inside. After handing him a glass of water, she called her parents, who were brainstorming together for another idea of a good novel.

"Mom! Dad! Jess is here!" she cried for a second time.

Leslie's mom, Judy, was the first to step downstairs, holding a pen and a paper, followed by Bill, Leslie's dad, with both empty mugs in his hands.

Judy was the first to speak, "Hi, Jess! How are you?"

Another pleasant sound helped Jess muster his courage to show the truth of his horrible day.

Bill placed the mugs on the two costars on the coffee table and held Jess on his shoulder, "I'm very sorry about your day." Then an idea came to Bill's head, "You know, when our Little Leslie's having a bad day, my wife and I always sang this special song to her. We'd also dance to it," he gave a slight chuckle.

"It's called, 'My Favorite Things'," Judy continued, "Oh I remembered the last time we watched the Broadway show in New York. The characters, the story, the performance-all so compelling!" She sighed happily.

Bill clasped his hands together, "Well, Leslie, we shouldn't keep your friend's bad mood waiting! Let's bring the phonograph." He and Leslie started running to their basement, leaving Jess with a confused look.

Up until Leslie and her father brought the phonograph into the living room, Jess had a moment of comfortable silence. His mood slowly brightened at the sight of Leslie… well, the Burke family in general. They always seem to be in a happy mood. How he wished his family was like them. Back home, before he met Leslie, he had to face his everyday problems all by himself. His dad, constantly angry with him and ordering him to do chores, his older sisters always bickering, when he gets home from school, his younger sisters endlessly asking him questions, with only one word popping into his mind: "Blah." The sound of the wheels quickly ended his reminiscence.

"Jess," Leslie called, "Look what we've got!"

"Wow! It looks really… old."

Bill laughed, "My dad bought it for me thirty years ago! Once in a while, he played records from Harlem and he joked about how the people from there played such wonderful music."

Judy came down with a record and cried in a musical tone, "I have it!"

"Oh Jess… call me Bill. I'm not going to hurt you or anything, silly." He knocked the stiffness off Jess' shoulders with a light punch.

"Let's play the song already!" Leslie couldn't wait any longer. Judy acquiesced to her daughter's wish and played the old phonograph along with the record.

In a few seconds, the record emitted a young, energetic woman's voice.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Judy was the first to sing along. A brilliant rhythm came as well.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are few of my favorite things.

The Burkes started dancing when the record sounded a short instrumental. Bill sang, and so did Leslie. Jess smiled, and his tapping feet matched the song's rhythm.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are few of my favorite things.

Judy held Leslie's hands, dancing together, still with the rhythm. Bill asked for Jess' hand.

"..I don't dance well, Mr.-Bill.." Jess lowered his head shyly.

"Come on, Jess," Bill rather sounded encouraging to him, "There's just the four of us. Nothing to be ashamed of."

Jess reached his hand out to Bill's and they began dancing.

Girls with white dresses and blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are few of my favorite things.

Jess' steps were out of the last stanza's patterns, but gradually recovered thanks to Bill's help.

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad!

It was clear for Leslie and her parents that Jess was relieved from his worries. He was laughing and jubilantly dancing. Leslie took this to her advantage. She lets go of her mother's hands and asks her father to let go of Jess'. He immediately released his distracted partner.

He stopped for a moment to breathe before turning to his new partner. He held Leslie's bright red hands, fingers intertwined, still living under his illusion of happiness. The other duo did the same, except Bill's right hand was on Judy's waist, and her hand on his shoulder.

Raindrops of roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are few of my favorite things.

The four eventually fell under the song's magic. The old couple happily remembered their romantic pasts. Leslie smiled and giggled before Jess' same expression.

Girls with white dresses and blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

Everyone but Jess started singing again.

These are few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad!

Returning to reality, the four only shared one thing in their minds: laughter. It lasted for ten good seconds.

"Wonderful to know.." Bill let out a deep sigh. He looked at Jess, who was telling him something.

"Thank you, Mr.-Bill," he's not used to calling him by his first name, "…for everything. I'm glad Leslie has a great dad like you."

"Son," Bill placed his hand on Jess' shoulder once more, "Your own dad… he will always be the best one out of the other dads you've seen or met. Believe me," he shook him lightly, "He may not have shown it to you yet, but all you need to do is wait." He releases him, "Speaking of which, does he or any of your family know you're here?"

"They will once I go back home," Jess chuckled.

"Better not keep them waiting then." Bill raised his right hand for a man-to-man handshake, but was slightly surprised when Jess embraced him tightly.

"No way! I want a hug from Jess and dad, too!" Leslie jumped in and hugged the both of them, following Judy.

Before he started running back home, Jess turned around to wave one more goodbye to the Burke family.

"Lock the door, Les," her father instructed her before he and his wife went back upstairs. She took one more glance at Jess and stood there for a while.

After locking the door, Leslie wiped something wet from both of her eyes with her right hand.

They were tears. Strange, she thought, but she simply shrugged and skipped into her room, while humming to herself the last parts of the song.

When the dog bites

When the bee stings..

When I'm feeling sad….

(A/N): Hope you guys liked my first published work. Comments, both positive and constructive will be much appreciated! Please R&R! :D

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